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Austrian paper decries Greek media conditions

Yesterday's strike of Greek media workers was the focus of interest on the website of the Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

As was stated in the report "The Greek media landscape is experiencing a heavy crisis. Economic difficulties and political power games have been its bane for years. A controversial new amendment now causes turbulence: In protest some newspapers will not come out on Wednesday, while television and radio stations will not broadcast news."

The article lists the journalist union's announcement, which indicates that the amendment allows the merging of media groups for cost containment, but in reality is a way to rescue for indebted businessmen.

As the Austrian newspaper notes, the unionists blame the government that it wants “to protect the interests of media moguls through the law. As the two largest publishing groups in the country - DOL and Pegasus - are both indebted" and mentions that there are fears that in the event of a “merger” as many as one in two journalists will lose their jobs.

The article notes that "the links between politics and the media is nothing new in Greece: Former television presenter Stavros Theodorakis initiated the first media participation in the electoral process with the new party To Potami, that got 6.6% of the vote in the 2014 European elections. Former journalist Maria Spiraki ran as a candidatefor New Democracy for the European Parliament, while previously being the reporter for Mega Channel responsible for the party's coverage."